MYSKI, Russia, June 15, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mechel OAO (NYSE:MTL), one of the leading Russian mining and metals companies, reports the temporary halt of the Sibirginskaya mine owned by Southern Kuzbass Coal Company OAO, which is part of Mechel Mining OAO.
At the Sibirginskaya mine, a heightened level of fire gases was detected in the mined-out area of the long wall 3-1-9, which indicates self-heating of coal. Due to that, mining works at the site were halted and all miners returned to the surface.
No carbon monoxide was detected in the long wall 3-1-9's active mine-working.
Southern Kuzbass Coal Company's experts mapped out measures to prevent this incident's possible negative consequences, which included temporarily isolating the long wall 3-1-9. Experts use remote probing to monitor the content of gases in the long wall's mined-out area.
Mining at the Sibirginskaya mine is currently halted, with the mine's experts working on the way to liquidate the source of self-heating. The mine's entire production infrastructure, including transport, ventilation, pumps, power facilities, tunneling faces and active mine-working areas are operational and safe.
The date when mining is resumed will be determined once the project of liquidating the source of self-heating is complete.
The mine's storages hold enough coal for the company to meet all its contractual obligations.
Halting the mine's work will not impact the construction project for Sibirginskaya's second line, which, when completed, is due to increase the enterprise's production capacity to 2.4 million tonnes a year.
Mechel is one of the leading Russian companies. Its business includes four segments: mining, steel, ferroalloy and power. Mechel unites producers of coal, iron ore concentrate, nickel, steel, ferrochrome, ferrosilicon, rolled products, hardware, heat and electric power. Mechel products are marketed domestically and internationally.
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Some of the information in this press release may contain projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events or the future financial performance of Mechel, as defined in the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We wish to caution you that these statements are only predictions and that actual events or results may differ materially. We do not intend to update these statements. We refer you to the documents Mechel files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 20-F. These documents contain and identify important factors, including those contained in the section captioned "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our Form 20-F, that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contained in our projections or forward-looking statements, including, among others, the achievement of anticipated levels of profitability, growth, cost and synergy of our recent acquisitions, the impact of competitive pricing, the ability to obtain necessary regulatory approvals and licenses, the impact of developments in the Russian economic, political and legal environment, volatility in stock markets or in the price of our shares or ADRs, financial risk management and the impact of general business and global economic conditions.
CONTACT: Mechel OAO Ekaterina Videman Phone: + 7 495 221 88 88 ekaterina.videman@mechel.com
